In particular cases asthma becomes really acute and several complications arise out of an asthmatic attack. Youngsters and young adults are much more vulnerable to sudden and unpredictable attacks of asthma. These attacks are mostly triggered by allergens and excessive exercise. The immediate treatment for these is a puff or two of the inhaler or a nebulizer.

But if these conditions of persist for a longer duration it is in the very best interest that a doctor ought to be consulted right away. The patients who repeatedly show such tendencies of persistence of symptoms ought to never take their condition lightly. They ought to also be referred right away to a hospital fully equipped with facilities to deal with any type of emergency.

Also it is usually seen that a specialist in dealing with asthma cases is a much much more preferred doctor in such cases. Most of the time it is seen that the individuals do take care to report emergencies when their children are involved but they do not take sufficient care of themselves and do not report their own problems in time. This several-a-time aggravates their scenario usually making it go totally out of hand.

There are some signals that to an asthmatic individual indicate hospitalization. The early warning signs that an asthmatic individual ought to never negate are:

Fast heart rate and rapid respiration.
Major problem in breathing by the use of neck and rib muscles.
Severe case of wheezing.
Persistent sweating.
Cyanosis or blue colour in lips and finger nails.
Perplexed state of mind and reduced clarity in thinking.

The patients ought to be hospitalized and given oxygen inhalation therapy. Along with these various drug therapies are also given. Most of the patients recover after hospitalization of five to seven days.

There are some cases in which asthma can turn life threatening. These patients experience a scenario referred to as acute respiratory failure. In this condition the bronchial tubes are totally blocked. The lungs in this condition are devoid of life sustaining oxygen and they also cannot get rid of the toxic carbon dioxide. In such severe condition the machines referred to as ventilators are employed to take up the function of respiration.

The respiratory muscles are deliberately paralysed in this process and the ventilator takes up the control of respiration. This process is referred to as assisted ventilation and it can safely be continued for two or three days. When the patient starts to enhance, the machine is gradually turned down and the individual is weaned away from the machine.

This process is offered in bigger hospitals and has really low mortality rate. Along with a lot of anti-inflammatory drugs are given with intervention properties. This makes relapses rare and there is really small scope of the asthma patient developing this condition once more really soon. This is all thanks to the fast moving growth and constant changes that have happened in the field of medicine and health care. So several incidences prove beyond doubt that if the patient gets medical attention in time he or she is sure to be saved and might even have chances of not having a repeat of same condition for a lengthy time.

But several studies point towards a stark reality that most of the deaths from asthma happen at home or on the way to the hospital. The lack of availability of medical attention at the time of death also does not prove anything or point towards any concrete conclusions during the last moments. In such an event it becomes practically next to impossible to derive the exact reason why such episodes of fatality in fact happen. Asthma researchers are now concentrating deeply on studying the patients who make it to the hospital and do emerge as survivors after a fatal asthma attack. These near fatal asthma attacks are termed as sudden asphyxic asthma.

After various studies of patients with near fatal attack of asthma it was found that the patients who survived and those who did not had several things in typical and some differences too. On the basis of studying the two groups of patients one who survived and one who did not some really clear characteristics appear that support in developing the profile of patients who are at risk of developing near fatal asthma. These criteria can be enlisted as:

The patients show a history of seizures along with asthma.

There might be performed a recent change in drug treatment or administration dosages.

There might be wheezing and other symptoms that might be neglected continually.

Even at the time when the patient might be discharged from the hospital after treatment from near fatal attack he might be having some wheezing.

There might be lack of self care at the hospital.

There might be emotional conflicts between patient, hospital staff and other family members.

There might be a tendency in the patient to use their asthmatic condition as a tool for emotional manipulation of other people.

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